There are many different portable electronic devices such as, for example, mobile telephones, cellular telephone, personal information assistants (“PIA's”) personal digital assistants (“PDAs”), games consoles, and so forth (“portable device”). Many store data that may be also stored and/or used elsewhere such as, for example, on personal computer, laptop computer, notebook computer, and so forth (“computer”). Connecting the portable device to the computer normally requires a cable having a relatively standard connector at one end (e.g. USB, IEEE 1394) for connection to the computer, and at the other end a connector specific for the particular portable device. There are many different manufacturers for portable devices, and quite often they require connectors that are specific for their products, and that cannot be used with products of other manufacturers. Quite often they cannot be used with different products from the same manufacturer.
Therefore, the cost of cables becomes high, as production runs are relatively low. Also, users may require a different cable for each portable device. This not only adds to cost, but also can add to the “cable clutter” the user may experience in storing, transporting and using a number of different cables. It may also cause confusion and the user may try to use the incorrect cable with a portable device.
A direct solid connection is not possible due to the inherent weight of the portable device, and the nature of the physical locations of the connection points in computers.